Potteries Active Kids

Runner Frank Murphy created a running club for kids in his local area so they could enjoy scheduled, easy access to exercise.

Frank set up Potteries Active Kids to: "try and encourage the children of my city into exercise, in order to help them provide a better health and lifestyle for themselves in the future."

So now, every Sunday morning at 8.45am kids ages 4 - 14 can run a free 2K run.

In order to sustain the club, Frank needed equipment such as bibs, cones, balls and so on. So, to raise the funds he decided to run 160 miles and use a Crowdfunder campaign.

But running 160 miles wasn't just about raising money.

Frank told us: "The aim in running 160 in their name was hopefully to show them that we are capable of far more than we think we are, and that the moment when life gets tough is the moment that defines us; we can quit or we can push our comfort zone and be better for it."

Frank had never tried Crowdfunding before: "I was thinking about just posting a link to the bank account or to the Paypal account, but the professional appearance and the way that it plays on the community approach was a massive help."

It was his first Crowdfunder project, so he set an achievable target of £1,000 to allow him the best possible chance of meeting the required funds.

The end result blew that out of the water - he raised £5,147 from 348 people over 56 days. More than five times his original target!

The pledge rewards

Pledges ranged from £1- £50.

For £10 and below, backers received a thank you for their belief in the project, £20 got you a selfie of Frank running the course and - this is dedication - for £50 he promised to spring 50m of the route after the 50 mile mark with video evidence to boot!

What's next?

Frank is in the process of finalising the plans for the weekly 2K run for children.

He told us: "It's been going since January but now we have finances behind us we can make it a really fantastic event for the children."

And he's not stopping there.

He added: "Then I will provide things like fitness classes and am also sorting out trips to fire stations, army barracks and the police HQ to work with the children to respect our authorities!

"Long term, I want to use PAK to help improve the health and lifestyle of the whole new generation of Stoke-on-Trent's youngsters!"

Tips to project owners

Frank's top tip is all about relentless promotion!

He said: "Crowdfunder is a great tool, but a project owner needs to actively promote it.

"The more you do the more you get. It has to be shared across Facebook and Twitter incessantly, and also ask others to share it for you!"